The Great Bustard Lek

The Great Bustard (Otis tarda) is one of the largest flying birds on the planet, topped only by the Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) and, possibly in some cases, by the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor). But what is even more spectacular than the sheer size of this bird, is its absolutely crazy lekking display.

This last weekend I was in eastern Austria in the state of Burgenland – just a mile from the Hungarian border – where a small population of Great Bustards persists. Despite its small size of the population, the sheer wierdness of seeing 6 Great Bustard males all doing their crazy snowball lekking dance at the same time was more than just a little cool.

Getting to the lek in the right season (late April), the first thing you see is the males strutting up and down, puffing out their chests and generally just trying to look impressive. Think of the cool muscle boys with gold chains and a baseball cap. And after a bit of wassuping, the real action starts…

Somehow they manage to puff themselves up completely, twist their flight feathers forward (aw), lifts up the tail and duck their head in to a massively fluffy mane. And then they do their jig. Think: breakdance dance-off.

Youtube obviously has something against me so here is a video from the UK

The world population of Great Bustards is estimated at about 34,000 individuals, with 2/3 calling the vast steppes of Spain their home (thanks Wikipedia). Wow, how I love the Spanish steppes. Actually, I just love steppes. One of the many reasons I really like Burgenland and her Bustards.

A couple of years ago, I made another little video on the Great Bustards with Andreas Kieling, a German documentary videographer and fascinating nature lover:

Bird Love Week is seven days of exploration of avian amore here on 10,000 Birds from April 22-28. We love birds, and the topic of birds loving other birds and in the process making more birds is a fascinating one we know you will enjoy. Mike, Corey, and a bevy of Beat Writers have been working on this one for awhile as the perfect expression of our love of all things avian. To see all of our Bird Love Week posts, just click here. But be warned – Bird Love Week is neither for the faint of heart nor for the permanently prudish – you may end up with images that you never imagined seared onto your brain.

Dale got his first pair of binoculars for a very early birthday after his dad realized that it was the only way to be left in peace. Many robins, eagles and finches later, he ended up at university studying various biology things and wrote a thesis on vertebrate biogeography in southern African forests. While studying, he also worked on various conservation/research projects (parrots, wagtails, vultures, and anything else that flew) and ringed thousands of birds. Dale studied scarlet macaws, and worked in their conservation, for three years in southern Costa Rica, followed by a year in the Caribbean working on Whale Sharks. After meeting the woman of his dreams, he moved to Austria where he now has the coolest job in the world making awesome toys for birders (Swarovski Optik product manager). He happens to also be obsessed with photography, particularly digiscoping, and despite all efforts will almost certainly never be a good birder. He also blogs for birdingblogs.com